Jason Kidd and the Milwaukee Bucks emerged from the All-Star Break and welcomed two very different Western Conference squads into the BMO Harris Bradley Center and came out with a split.
The first visitor was the Utah Jazz, one of the West’s hottest squads. Milwaukee gave up 36 points to the Jazz in the first quarter and fell in their first game back 109-95.
“We got off to a good start and then I think it was a 17-2 run that they made. Offensively we were turning the ball over, we couldn’t get a shot. If you can’t get a shot against Utah you put yourself in a bad position,” Kidd said. “Defensively it wasn’t the three, it was on the roll being able to finish and they took advantage of our defense tonight.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Michael Beasley were the two bright spots for the Bucks, finishing with 33 and 22 respectively.
“He comes out and competes every night and I thought he played at a high level. He and Beas were the only ones out there playing tonight,” Jason said. “You’ve got to get the rest of the guys involved, they’ve got to join the party and the rest of his teammates didn’t show.”
Milwaukee struggled to defend Giannis’ fellow All-Star, Gordon Hayward, who finished the game with 29 points.
“I think he’s an All-Star, and he’s well deserved of that. He showed that not just tonight, but since he’s been playing in this league. He plays hard, he competes and his speed, his tempo are as good as anyone’s in this league,” Kidd said. “He’s not out of control, he doesn’t go too fast, he always understands what’s happening on the floor and he can read. When you can do those things, it makes you an All-Star. His pace, if you’re not physical with him, he’s going to beat you and that’s what he did tonight.”
The Jazz dominated in the paint and on the glass, something Coach Kidd wants to see
“That’s our strength and we had some bunnies that just didn’t go down for us,” J-Kidd said. “We got some offensive rebounds that we got putbacks that just didn’t fall for us tonight and so hopefully we get this game out of our system coming off the break and now we’ve just got to focus on Phoenix.”
BACK ON TRACK
The Bucks got things back on track on Sunday against the Phoenix Suns, as they withstood a furious Phoenix rally and held on to win 100-96.
Milwaukee was up seven with 5:30 left in the game when Khris Middleton entered the game for Antetokounmpo.
“We were going to try and rest Giannis. We had the lead and we felt the game was under control. We wanted to finish with that group. Khris’ minutes were going to go up to 30 so we thought we’d get him some minutes on the floor. It didn’t end that way,” Kidd said.
The Suns stormed back into the game and came within a point when Kidd was forced to put Antetokounmpo back into the game.
“That group took some quick shots and then we didn’t get back in transition and they took advantage of that,” Jason said.” The good thing is we rebounded, we made plays when we had to, we got Giannis back in the game and I think this just shows his maturity and also the trust of his teammates to be able to make that play at the end.”
Milwaukee came out of a timeout and executed a play to perfection that saw Tony Snell make a 3-pointer that proved to be the dagger.
“Patience, understanding going back to all the close games that we’ve had when we’ve forced things, turned the ball over, you can see that the guys really took their time and came up with a big play,” J-Kidd said. “You have to understand the tendencies of your opponent and Tony ended up with a wide open shot.”
Aside from Antetokounmpo’s strong 28-point performance, Malcolm Brogdon impressed Kidd with his 15 points, strong second half and efficient decision making.
“To be a young team and to be in that situation, he’s going. He could have easily shot the ball. We talked about it coming out of the timeout, ‘Malcolm you’re probably going to be open. They’re probably going to go leave and double Giannis and make him a passer,’” Kidd said. “To be able to hold the ball for that long and be able to execute and find the open guy and then Malcolm to trust and find Tony and then Tony to step into it. We didn’t play our best basketball. It just shows when you’re unselfish, when we do the right things, good things happen.”
It’s a quick turnaround for the Bucks, as they travel to Cleveland to play LeBron James and the Cavaliers on Monday night.
